Alexandra Petri is very normal, or at least that’s what her mother and father have always told her growing up. One might surmise they said this out of a parental concern that the child of a U.S. Representative and the president of an outspoken education reform nonprofit might be deprived of a relatively ordinary childhood […]
Archives for August 2013
The results are in: Audiences choose their favorite shows and performers
In a month-long balloting for the 2013 Audience Choice Awards, where a total of 1,270 votes were recorded in 2 rounds of voting, Washington-area audiences spoke clearly about their choices. In the Musical categories, Cabaret at Keegan Theatre finished 6.5% ahead of MetroStage’s production of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris […]
Advice to a young artist from Hunter Styles
Editor’s note: We repost this article for all those artists about to embark on learning and working in the arts. ————————— Five years and 241 articles ago, I took a bus downtown with a notebook in my back pocket. DC Theatre Scene had given me an assignment, and I was on my way to write […]
Nijinsky rises at the National Gallery and onstage at Cultural DC
In a year of incessant tug-of-wars on the national stage, outsiders may be shocked to see how Washington’s art, theatre, and diplomatic communities are working in tandem. While the National Gallery of Art continues to show the costumes of celebrated dancer Nijinsky in Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909-1929: When Art Danced With Music, the […]
Forum’s unclear future leads to a high risk decision – nearly free theatre
“It’s about trust…like a stage dive.” Most Artistic Directors of local theatre companies would probably not compare a change in ticketing policy to taking a flying jump into a mosh pit. Then again, most Artistic Directors around town aren’t offering their entire season — every performance of every production — for as little as the […]
Theatre for nearly nothing. Who’s tried it?
In Minneapolis, a company called Mixed Blood garnered national attention when it introduced its policy of “radical hospitality,” essentially shifting to a “free entry” model. The Name Your Price-style ticketing now being tried by Forum Theatre all season and Theater Alliance for Thursday productions of Brok-ology is based on that experience.
Signature extends Miss Saigon. Tickets on sale now
Update! Second extension announced. New Must-Close date: Oct 6th. Due to popular demand, Signature Theatre has added an additional performances for Miss Saigon, and extended the run to Oct 6, 2013. Those additional dates now on sale starting this morning.
Pippin’s flying high
I saw Pippin three times during its original four and a half year New York run in the 1970s. I enjoyed it thoroughly but I always thought of it as a minor musical which a major director (Bob Fosse) transformed by staging it within an inch of its life, and by casting the very young […]
Let’s play Fantasy Producer – plays we’d like to see in a new season
It’s August, so many people are gearing up to play fantasy football. For me, this is the time of the year when I like to play Fantasy Producer. While the 2012-13 theatre season has come to an end and the 2013-14 season is just starting, I’m already looking ahead to 2014-2015 possibilities.
Bawdy burlesque brings in big bucks for theatreWashington fund
Turns out, Monday night, the Big Theatres and the Little Theatres of Washington were lying down together after all – despite rumors to the contrary. Let’s just say a lot got bared at Signature Theatre at the Summer Hummer 2013 – also known as “the Second Coming.”
Neverwhere
Rorschach Theatre’s production of Neverwhere illustrates what it is like to be a middle-aged woman—completely invisible.
Broke-ology
“Nowaday’s any job is a good job.” That’s William (G. Alverez Reid), patriarch of the King family in Nathan Louis Jackson’s Broke-ology, and if there was any doubt that the drama resonates with current events, that line alone should put it to rest.